Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates generally to venue displays, and more particularly to systems and associated methods that have a timeline of media content to be triggered, which initiates actions at a precise moment in time that allows a distribution of information to viewers of media content requesting a modification of media content from a venue display.
Description of the Related Art:
A DCI-compliant digital cinema screen requires a digital projector and a computer known as a “server”.
Movies are supplied to the theatre as a digital file called a Digital Cinema Package (DCP). For a typical feature film this file will be anywhere between 90 and 300 GB of data (roughly two to six times the information of a Blu-ray disc) and may arrive as a physical delivery on a conventional computer hard-drive or via satellite or fiber-optic broadband. Currently (December 2013) physical deliveries are most common and have become the industry standard. Trailers arrive on a separate hard-drive and range between 200 and 400 MB in size.
Regardless of how the DCP arrives it first needs to be copied onto the internal hard-drives of the server, usually via a USB port, a process known as “ingesting”. DCPs can be, and in the case of feature films almost always are, encrypted. The necessary decryption keys are supplied separately, usually as email attachments and then “ingested” via USB. Keys are time limited and will expire after the end of the period for which the title has been booked. They are also locked to the hardware (server and projector) that is to screen the film, so if the theatre wishes to move the title to another screen or extend the run a new key must be obtained from the distributor.
The playback of the content is controlled by the server using a “playlist”. As the name implies this is a list of all the content that is to be played as part of the performance. The playlist is created by a member of the theatre's staff using proprietary software that runs on the server. In addition to listing the content to be played the playlist also includes automation cues that allow the playlist to control the projector, the sound system, auditorium lighting, tab curtains and screen masking (if present) etc. The playlist can be started manually, by clicking the “play” button on the server's monitor screen, or automatically at pre-set times.
Since 2005, more than 125,000 display venue screens have been digitized on the planet using D-Cinema technology per DCI specifications. This is a worldwide success which allowed replacing annual $1.5 billion of 35 mm positive print rolls by file download or disking delivery for few % of the print costs. Those 125,000 D-Cinema screens operating 7×7 have proven the reliability of the workflow making the DCI specifications a successful industry defacto standard.
Using D-Cinema in private locations would make the right owners (The Studios) concerned about potential misusage of secured D-Cinema servers without any strong surveillance.
There is a need for systems and associated methods that have a timeline of media content to be triggered, which initiates actions at a precise moment in time that allows a distribution of information to viewers of media content requesting a modification of media content from a venue display. There is a further need for systems and associated methods where large channels of bidirectional contents are managed in real time from mobile devices to a main screen of a venue display as well as from the main screen of the venue display to mobile devices.